122 DA VET'S PRIMER 



Here is another enemy of our trees, which, in the 

 cities, is spreading like wild-fire. It is commonly 

 called "cushion scale." From June till fall they can 

 be seen on the under surface of leaves, and small 

 branches are, at times, almost white with them. A 

 great number of these can be destroyed by turning a 

 sharp, strong spray of water on them and knocking 

 them off. In the battle with the scale, the birds do 

 not accomplish as much as they do in destroying larvae, 

 pupse and the moths of the leaf-eating insects ; spray- 

 ing is necessary to conquer these "armored scale." 



" What do we spray with? " 



Good question for a small boy, Bennie. If your 

 tree is very badly infested, cut it down and burn it ; if 

 the scale has not made much headway, dissolve two 

 pounds of whale oil soap in one gallon of water. 

 Spray this on after the leaves have fallen, again in mid- 

 winter, and just before the buds expand in spring. 

 This, experiment stations have found to be one of the 

 best remedies ; it is also a great help to rose bushes, to 

 destroy the "slug," and other foes of the beautiful 

 flower. It is a very hard matter, however, to conquer 

 the " scale," and, if any are left, they will continue to 

 spread. I saw a beautiful Japan Quince hedge, last 

 summer, that had millions of " scale " on it, and it had 

 to be dug out and burned. I don't know but we will 

 have to do the same with trees! Therefore, children, 

 begin at once to gather seed and start new trees that 

 will be free from disease. 



